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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 14, 2020)
MCC GIRLS BASKETBALL: Dawgs outlast Kamiakin | SPORTS, A8 E O AST REGONIAN TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2020 144th Year, No. 62 $1.50 WINNER OF THE 2019 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD Staff photo by Ben Lonergan Census materials rest on a display table during a meeting of the Umatilla County Complete Count Committee at the Pend- leton Convention Center in October. Umatilla County is ready for a complete count Staff photo by Ben Lonergan Members of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation Board of Trustees pose with attendees and speakers at the groundbreaking for the Walla Walla Spring Chinook Hatchery on Friday afternoon. BREAKING GROUND Tribes begin work on new Milton-Freewater salmon hatchery By JESSICA POLLARD East Oregonian ILTON-FREEWATER — Spring Chinook salmon haven’t swum in the Walla Walla River basin since the 1900s, but the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation just broke ground on a long-awaited hatchery that could change that. During a ground-breaking event at the South Fork Walla Walla Chi- nook salmon spawning facility outside Milton-Freewater on Fri- day afternoon, CTUIR Board of Trustees Vice Chair Jeremy Wolf M explained that the spring Chinook hatchery, a more than $20 million project funded by the Bonneville Power Administration, is antici- pated to open in the spring of 2021. It could bring more than 2,000 adult salmon back to the Walla Walla Basin by 2025, he said. According to the BPA, it could eventually return 5,000 adult salmon to the basin each year. “This is going to benefi t the entire system of Walla Walla, and the whole state,” Wolf said. It’s a project that has been a part of an overall comprehensive pro- gram related to the health of fi sh and water in the Walla Walla Basin for more than 30 years now. The site already has a spawning facility for salmon and steelhead released into the Umatilla Basin, and the addi- tion of an onsite hatchery will allow the tribes to localize the egg-rearing process. Gary James, Fisheries Program manager for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Res- ervation, remembers sitting down in the late 1980s during the initial con- versations about opening a hatchery at South Fork Walla Walla. James can recount how devel- opment in the 19th and 20th centu- ries resulting in reduced streamfl ow, habitat destruction and structural passage problems along the Walla Walla River contributed to the dis- appearance of the spring Chinook See Hatchery, Page A7 The South Fork Walla Walla Chinook salmon spawning facility, pictured here last Friday, is used to harvest and fertilize eggs before they are trans- ported to the Umatilla hatchery. The spawning fa- cility operates throughout the summer months. Staff photo by Ben Lonergan Federal dollars and the chance at a new congressional seat are fueling local census efforts By JESSICA POLLARD East Oregonian UMATILLA COUNTY — Portland State University’s 2019 population esti- mates identifi ed an increase of 395 peo- ple in Umatilla County from 2018. But offi cials working to pin down a complete population count don’t think growth will end there. “I’m optimistic,” said Umatilla County Board of Commissioner George Murdock. “If we do our due diligence, I think we’ll fi nd there are more people here than we think there are.” Since 2018, dozens of local leaders have been brainstorming ways to get the word out about the 2020 U.S. Cen- sus through the Umatilla County 2020 Complete Count Committee — one of the fi rst committees of its kind in the nation, according to Murdock. Come April, census takers will hit the ground to track down those who have yet to respond to census correspon- dence via phone, mail or email. Aside from yielding data that will impact where millions of federal dol- lars will go, it’s predicted that Oregon could gain a sixth seat in the U.S. House of Representatives due to an increase in population since 2010. “That won’t really have much impact on us out here, but will I think it might help the state as a whole,” Murdock said. According to Murdock, each person counted in the census across the county carries a price tag of $4,000 in program funding for public programs revolv- ing around human services, health and housing. It’s estimated, Murdock said, that about 70% of people will willingly fi ll out the census this year. The remaining 30% are considered members of differ- ent “hard-to-count” populations. “It’s the young preschoolers, differ- ent ethnic groups and people that for one reason or another are anxious to be found,” he said. In a county with an estimated popu- lation of 81,160, according to Portland State’s most recent fi gures, that means See Census, Page A7 UFO reports drop in Eastern Oregon but tick up statewide Orange orb over North Powder and massive craft near Milton-Freewater among reports By PHIL WRIGHT EO Media Group LA GRANDE — The National UFO Report- ing Center reported more accounts of unusual aerial phenomena in Oregon in 2019 than 2018, but accounts from Eastern Oregon almost fell out of sight. The center in Davenport, Washington, totaled 109 reports last year of unidenti- fi ed fl ying objects over Ore- gon skies, 10 more than in 2018, according to the cen- ter’s online database. Eastern Oregon viewers generated nine reports in 2018, but in 2019 the reports dipped to fi ve, including a July 11 sighting near North Powder. The witness reported seeing a bright orange object morph between an orb and oblong shape over the span of three hours. According to the report, the witness was a passenger in a car heading south on Highway 237 about 5 miles northeast of North Pow- der at about 9:50 p.m. on a “dark, mainly clear” night. “Being an avid stargazer, I looked up to the sky to watch the stars pass by. To the southwest from the pas- senger’s front seat I saw a strange bright orange light in the sky hovering around the moon.” The light was no star or planet, according to the account, and did not seem like any aircraft the witness was familiar with. Nor was there a jet trail or other obvi- ous signs of propulsion. “I began to get an uneasy feeling in my stomach,” the witness stated in the report. “As I watched the object, the light elongated into an See UFO, Page A7 EO fi le photo Patricia Barnes-Green, left, Grady Green and Virgil Bates watch an object hover in the air off of Southwest Nye Avenue on July 11, 2018, in Pendleton.
